Origin

Jakita Wagner was a blessed child. Her father was one of the Century Babies -- people born at midnight on January 1st, 1900. These people were gifted with great powers and destinies, and one of these was the African explorer, Lord Blackstock. Blackstock was from a line of English nobles who had grown up in the jungles of Africa. His superhuman abilities made him an almost invincible protector of the wild. Out of boredom, he shared a tryst with Anaykah, a brilliant scientist from the hidden city of Opak-Re. This technologically advanced, peaceful civilization resided in the heart of Africa, and had one cardinal rule when dealing with outsiders - no interbreeding. Blackstock and Anaykah, broke that rule in 1934. The birth of their daughter led the leaders of Opak-Re to permanently seal the city off from the world. Before the city vanished, however, Anaykah gave her baby to Elijah Snow, her lover prior to Blackstock and a man for whom she cared deeply. She warned him that the baby would be special, begged him to save the child, and vanished with her city, expressing regret at having abused his love for her so cruelly. Snow brought the child to a kindly couple in Germany -- the Wagners -- who were familiar with the raising of exceptional children, having previously done so with a child who fell to earth in a mysterious spacecraft the year before. This couple named her Jakita and raised her as their daughter. Snow maintained a presence in her life, and when she grew up he found that she was every bit as "special" as her mother had warned. She was exceptionally strong, tough and fast, and much like her father, she appeared to stop aging somewhere in her late twenties or early thirties.

When it came time to form the Planetary Organization, Jakita was chosen to be the leader of the field team that would explore the world for the strange and the unexplained. She has, "a low threshold for boredom," and has very little patience with subtlety or guile. When Snow was forced to leave the Planetary to save his teammates, she attempted to lead. The death of her teammate Ambrose Chase, however, spurred her to track Snow down and bring him back around as the leader of the team. Jakita was once romantically involved with Jack Carter (a WildStorm pastiche of John Constantine).

Creation

Jakita Wagner is a Wildstorm character created by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday. She would appear in a special feature in the back of Gen 13 #33, making a more traditional proper first appearance in Planetary #1 released in April 1999.

Character Evolution

Of the more popular members of the Planetary series, as well as one of the main protagonists of the series, Jakita Wagner starts with mysterious beginnings with insights that are revealed over the course of her publication history.

Major Story Arcs

Jack Carter's Funeral

Jakita, Snow and Drummer attend Jack Carter's funeral.

The Day the Earth Turned Slower

The Planetery team investigate U.S. Science City Zero, meeting a ghostly woman named Allison. The team would be attacked by giant ants which Jakita would deal with.

Powers and Abilities

Jakita Wagner possesses super human physical attributes and abilities, most notably super human levels of strength, speed and durability. Famously being described as being able to drop kick a rhino over the Grand Canyon, this statement may err on the side of hyperbole. Jakita has enhanced senses and perception, and can react and move with incredible speed and grace. Her durability allows her to drop from vast distances and remain unharmed, as well as possessing the ability to resist conventional bullets and gunfire without injury or harm. Jakita is a trained hand to hand fighter, and quite intelligent.

Physical Characteristics

Height: 5' 10"

Weight: 130 lbs (59 kg)

Eyes: Brown

Hair: Black

Alternate Versions

Batman/Planetary

Planetary would be investigating a series of murder cases in Gotham, Jakita and Snow meeting the local Planetary officers Dick Grayson and Jasper his assistant. They would seek a man John Black, and head to the dark streets of Gotham to find more clues. Eventually they would find Black who would resist their advances, before a mysterious man dressed as a bat would interrupt them. Jakita would engage in a fight with this Batman while Drummer and Snow would pursue Black. Black would trip and trigger his powers which would basically shunt everything caught in a field emanating from his body into a parallel reality, as far as Gotham. Jakita would be caught in this radius and remain unchanged, however she would find the stoic Batman character shifted to a much campier and gentler version. Eventually a version of Batman would confront Black himself and Snow would explain to him the nature of Black's powers and crimes.